Maumelle High School lockdown

A student is accused of taking a handgun to Maumelle High School on Tuesday. Maumelle Police said the gun was found on a bookshelf in a classroom.
(By Lisa Burnett)
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Maumelle Police Department officials have identified the 18-year-old student who is accused of taking a handgun to Maumelle High School on Tuesday.

James Austin, 18, of Little Rock is charged with possessing a firearm on a school campus, a class D felony, according to a statement from police.

Maumelle High School was on lockdown for several hours Tuesday after Austin purportedly was found with a handgun in a classroom, police said.

Police were called late Tuesday morning with the report of a student with a handgun.

"We responded immediately to the location, and when we got here, the school had already initiated its lockdown procedure," Maumelle Police Department Capt. Jim Hansard said.

After questioning students at the high school, Hansard said, police were able to isolate a specific classroom where the gun was located.

"Once we did that, several minutes later, we did recover a handgun," he said. "It was in a bookshelf in a classroom." Austin was then taken into custody.

It wasn't immediately known whether Austin had told anyone before Tuesday that he planned to bring the gun to school.

Hansard said Maumelle police are gathering a lot of information from witnesses at the school.

"We're kind of pilfering through that right now as to what's accurate and what's not. There was a lot of merit to these witnesses. They went straight to the administration, just like we would have wanted them to," Hansard said.

Hansard said there is no longer a threat at the school, and the Pulaski County Special School District said on its Twitter account that the lockdown was lifted around 1 p.m.

"We want to tell the parents out there that the school is safe. This situation has been dealt with by the administration of the school and the police department," Hansard said. "[Police] are still at the school currently, but it's just for evidence purposes."

Hansard said the Maumelle Police Department participated in a lockdown drill on Monday.

Displaying 11 - 16 of 16 total comments

@Lacy_29 - Please tell us you are a hater attempting to make someone that knows this kid out to be an uneducated simpleton. Typographical errors and mistakes born of haste are one thing; what you posted is something entirely different. Regardless, kids from good homes make poor decisions too. The fact is however, kids from homes where parents make bad decisions (commit crimes, unwed mothers, low emphasis on education, etc.) are more likely to make bad decisions than kids from homes with a mommy and a daddy that do not commit crimes, have babies out of wedlock, and continually reinforce the importance of education to their kids.

@JohnSmith No I'm not a hater!!! Like I said his was raised to be respectful and make something out of his life! You must be getting your facts from a textbook because their are plenty of kids that are in unwed, single parent household and crime infested neighborhoods they turn out just fine and make something of their lives! Where are your facts about kids that come from this type of environment??? James grown up with a mother and father (which I clearly stated) so either I'm missing your point or you clearly missed mine! Jeffery Dahmer was raised by his mother and father and his ass was eating people. Barak Obama was raised by a single mother and became President!! Those are FACT @johnsmith

@maddjack I agree with you 100% but there are some people on here saying things about his parents as if their to blame for this! At some point in life you have to be responsible for your on action! James action are his owe not his parents!